Removable oven door



5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. EARL S. POLLOCK ATTORNEYS Aug. 18, 1964 E. s. PoLLocK REMOVABLE OVEN DOOR Filed Oct. l0. 1961 Aug. 18, 1964 E, s. PQLLOCK 3,144,863

REMOVABLE OVEN DOOR Filed Oct. l0, 1961 S Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5

INVENTOR. EARL S. POLLOCK BY @MJ/g www@ ATTORNEYS Aug. 18, 1964 E. s. PoLLocK REMovABLE OVEN DooR 3 sheets-snaai s Filed oct. 1Q, 1961 FIG. 6

INVENTOR.

EARL S. POLLOGK BY @MyW/mm@ ATTORNEYS United States Patent O Fice 3,144,863 REMOVABLE OVEN DOOR Earl S. Pollock, Lexington, Ohio, assignor to The Tappan Company, Manseld, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Oct. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 144,235 2 Claims. (Ci. 126-191) This invention relates to an oven assembly and, more particularly, to oven assemblies having removable doors.

To permit access to the interior of ovens for cleaning and repair, it is desirable that oven doors be easily removable. A removable oven door is disclosed in my U.S. Patent 2,721,547, issued October 25, 1955; however, it will be obvious that part of such prior door mechanism must be accommodated within the range cabinets between the oven liner and the outer side wall. A space free of the thermal insulation applied to the exterior of the oven is thus needed at each side, and it has been found that this lack of insulation can result in a local hot spot at the outer walls which would desirably be avoided, particularly when such walls are adjacent wooden cabinet structure and the like in the installation of the oven or range.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an oven assembly with a removable door wherein the oven liner may be completely surrounded by thermal insulating material, thus avoiding external hot spots.

Another object is to provide such an assembly wherein -the door removal is easily accomplished by simple hand manipulation.

A still further object is to provide such an assembly wherein the parts of the door mounting are all at the exterior of the oven compartment or within the door itself to facilitate repair and installation.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. l is a front elevation view of a range equipped with the removable oven door of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the closed oven door and associated assembly taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the bottom portion of the door and its associated assembly with the door in its fully horizontal open position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 with the door shown released and ready to be removed from the oven;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view of the side of the closed door and its associated assembly taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the closed oven door partially cut away to show the counterbalance and support mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the range 10 has an oven compartment 11 closed by an oven door 12 having glass panels 12 therein. The exterior of the oven compartment is surrounded by a front frame 13 which cooperates with the oven door serving to effectively close the oven compartment. The center of the top of the 3,144,863 Patented Aug. 18, 1964 frame 13 is provided with a conventional catch mechanism 14 which is releasably grasped by suitable means within the oven door when the latter is in its closed position. A seal 15 extends about the sides and top of the frame 13 and is engaged by the door 12 when closed to seal the oven compartment 11.

The oven door 12 comprises outer Wall 16 and door liner 17 which are interengaged by opposed and overlapping peripheral anges to form a chamber within the oven door as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Each side of the oven door is provided with a counterbalance and support mechanism, with each of the latter having a U-shaped channel 13 secured Within the door chamber. Only one such mechanism will be described in detail, the one appearing at the right, since both are similarly constructed and operative. A counterbalance spring 19 is attached to the upper end of the thus illustrated channel 18 by means of a holding screw 20 threaded in tapered end turns of the spring. The other end of the spring 19 is attached to a spring bracket 21 which is reciprocably slidable within the channel 18. The spring bracket 21 is formed with a longitudinal slot 22 therein, as clearly shown in FIG. 7, in which one end of support lever 23 is pivotally mounted by a bolt 24. The support lever 23 extends downwardly and outwardly through an opening 25 in the channel 18 and a corresponding opening in the door liner 17. The outer end of support lever 23 has an open cam hook 26 formed thereon.

The bottom of U-shaped channel 18 supports a transverse door hinge pin 27, and a slot 28 is provided in the inner door liner 17 and around the bottom of the door for engagement of such pin in a hinge bracket 29 secured to the front oven frame 13 at a point below the oven compartment and slightly outboard of the inner side wall of the same. The hinge bracket 29 is formed with a forwardly projecting ear 30 having a downwardly and inwardly inclined slot 31 therein terminating in a seat. This forwardly projecting ear 30 is accommodated in the door slot 2S and receives the hingepin 27 in its seat to provide a detachable hinge connection of such corner portion of the door.

The hinge bracket 29 is also formed with an upper projecting ear 32 which carries a transverse lever hinge pin 33 which may be in the form of a shoulder rivet as shown in FIG. 7. The open cam hook 26 of the support lever 23 is adapted to engage the lever hinge pin 33 and to be held in engagement therewith by the tension of the spring 19. The support lever 23 is also provided with an edge relief 34 to permit free passage of the lever through opening 25 during swinging of the oven door which will be described in detail hereinafter.

A latch bar 35 is attached to the interior side of the inner door liner 17 by an actuating screw 36, the head portion of which is exposed at the exterior side of the door liner. The shank of screw 36 is adapted to slide in a horizontal slot 37 in such liner. The other end of the latch bar 35 protrudes through a slot 38 in the side of the channel 18. The reciprocable spring bracket 21 also has a side slot 39 therein which is adapted to be positioned for engagement by the latch bar 35 only when the door 12 is in its open horizontal position shown in FIG. 3. It can be seen from this descrpition that the latch bar 35 is capable of easy horizontal sliding motion by mere hand manipulation of the head of screw 36, and when the spring bracket 21 is in position as shown in FIG. 3 the latch bar 35 can enter slot 39 thereby rmly holding the spring bracket 21 against reciprocation and arresting the counterbalance spring 19.

When the counterbalance spring and spring bracket are arrested by engagement of the latch bar 35 as described above, the door 12 will be in its horizontal position as shown in FIG. 3. If the door is then swung up- `actuating screw 36.

wardly from this position toward the oven compartment or closure, the support lever 23 will be axially moved toward the lever hinge pin 33 and the inner cam surface 40 of the cam hook 26 will automatically disengage the lever from such lever hinge pin by camming action as shown in FIG. 4. Once the outer end of the support lever is thus disengaged, the door 12 can be simply lifted to remove its hinge pin 27 from the hinge bracket slot 31 thereby freeing the door from all connection with the oven.

In replacing the door the above operation is reversed. The door hinge pin is inserted into the slot 31 and the open cam hook 26 is engaged with the lever hinge pin 33. The door is then swung downwardly to a horizontal position and the latch bar 35 is manually disengaged from the spring bracket 21 by linger manipulation of the head of When the entire counterbalance mechanism is in engagement it is obvious that the tension of the counterbalance spring 19 will serve to keep the open cam hook 26 of the support lever pivotally engaged with the lever hinge pin 33. The tension thereby created between the frame 13 and the door 12 will also serve to keep the door hinge pin 27 pivotally engaged within the seat of the slot 31 of the hinge bracket 29.

The hinging and counterbalance mechanisms are, of course, duplicated at the other lower corner of the oven and door as noted earlier.

As will be seen, the actuating screws of the two latch bars are near enough to the sides of the oven door so that they are in easy reach of a persons thumbs when the sides of the door are grasped by the hands. This enables one to grasp the sides of the oven door, operate the latch mechanisms with the thumbs, and lift the door free al1 without repositioning the hands or using special tools. The remounting of the door is also accomplished in this greatly facilitated manner.

Since the entire door mounting mechanism not carried by the door itself is located on the exterior of the front frame and no part of the mechanism penetrates the frame in any position, the entire space between the oven liner and outer wall will be filled with suitable thermal insulation, eg., glass wool, to insure the complete elimination of localized overheating of the outer oven wall.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. In an oven assembly comprising an open oven compartment, a frame around the exterior of said oven cornpartment at the front thereof, a door at the front of said oven compartment having a chamber therein, and hinge means attached to said front frame for removably securing the bottom of said door to said frame for swinging movement between vertical closed and substantially horizontal open positions; a support lever extending outwardly from within said chamber, a pin attached to the exterior of said front frame, the outer end of said lever having an open cam hook engageable with said pin, a bracket reciprocable within said chamber pivotally connected to the inner end of said support lever, a counterbalance spring attached within the upper portion of said chamber and connected to said bracket, and latch means on said door adapted to be manually engaged with said bracket when said door is in an open position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said bracket is provided with a slot, and said latch means comprises an elongated member slidably mounted within said chamber having actuating means extending through the surface of said door, whereby said actuating means may be manually operated to adjust said elongated member into and out of said slot in said bracket.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,780,219 Pollock Feb. 5, 1957 2,823,662 Aylor Feb. 18, 1958 2,998,816 Hopkins Sept. S, 1961 3,015,125 Curtis Jan. 2, 1962 

1. IN AN OVEN ASSEMBLY COMPRISING AN OPEN OVEN COMPARTMENT, A FRAME AROUND THE EXTERIOR OF SAID OVEN COMPARTMENT AT THE FRONT THEREOF, A DOOR AT THE FRONT OF SAID OVEN COMPARTMENT HAVING A CHAMBER THEREIN, AND HINGE MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID FRONT FRAME FOR REMOVABLY SECURING THE BOTTOM OF SAID DOOR TO SAID FRAME FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT BETWEEN VERTICAL CLOSED AND SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL OPEN POSITIONS; A SUPPORT LEVER EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM WITHIN SAID CHAMBER, A PIN ATTACHED TO THE EXTERIOR OF SAID FRONT FRAME, THE OUTER END OF SAID LEVER HAVING AN OPEN CAM HOOK ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID PIN, A BRACKET RECIPROCABLE WITHIN SAID CHAMBER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE INNER END OF SAID SUPPORT LEVER, A COUNTERBALANCE SPRING ATTACHED WITHIN THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID CHAMBER AND CONNECTED TO SAID BRACKET, AND LATCH MEANS ON SAID DOOR ADAPTED TO BE MANUALLY ENGAGED WITH SAID BRACKET WHEN SAID DOOR IS IN AN OPEN POSITION. 